Health and Beauty

This is a watch with the ability to count your steps and even with the aid of the chest strap provided also check your heart rate during exercise. So apart from using satellite technology why has this company diversified into this area.

We all sweat, some – like me – sweat a lot, partly due to the weather and partly in my case due to my larger size but also because of various medical problems that I have, so a shirt that promises to not show sweat patches was a must to try.

A snug fitting shoe, a little bright by my standards but given that anything goes today the word is comfort and while these are extremely comfortable I am not one for vigorous exercise which I understand is their main purpose.

A new name to me that I found by chance while checking the Apps pre-installed on an Android Smartphone. Health items are of particular interest to me as I have several health problems myself so these items are always useful.

These are new to the UK although a sister company brought out a very good Blood Pressure watch some years ago. Here I am looking at Smart Scales, Smart Blood Pressure Cuff and a Smart Pedometer these with a free App that can monitor your health.

I saw these items at a retro event showing lots of items from Brauns past and also an exhibition of specially commissioned posters in a trendy setting of a furniture showroom. The Trimmer was available to take away the chance to review the shaver followed later.

Just before Christmas I attended a Braun event that included the company’s latest range of electric shavers.

Christmas is past and no doubt we all feel those pre festivity clothes have shrunk – even sitting in the wardrobe – a check on the scales tells a different story and those extra puddings are now sitting around your waist and hips.

The only link these two items have is that they both came from a ‘Christmas In July’ event organised by Lakeland. While they are best known for Catalogues, they also have shops and of course a Website to help you choose.

Scales to weight things and scales to weight yourself. Both are rather special, kitchen scales normally have a ‘glass ceiling’ at 5kilos, these can easily weight twice that. Second a set of scales that also analyse you to give more information.

For anyone with a baby or other dependant person something like this will make a hard life easier. Starting with the setup. This will work on your home Wi-Fi network or over the Internet the latter ideal for keeping an eye on the baby sitter.

Both products are small, both products work to reduce or eliminate pain, the first called No Pain is a Tens device and anyone who has used one a few years ago cannot claim there is ‘no pain’, the second is even smaller and often used by physiotherapists.

Having reviewed scales, various other fitness and health products from Withings it seems logical to cover a blood pressure monitor linked like so many products they do to an App so you do not even need to note down the units readings.

This is not a GPS unit as some may think but a watch, a rather special watch that not only tells the time but can also give you your pulse rate at any time by the simple press of a button, no chest band just wear the watch on your wrist.

A very interesting and rather different product. Massage is something that most people appreciate for one of more ailments; while various medical experts can help, often, other devices can improve the symptoms at a lesser cost.

In the past the things I have looked at from Oregon have been medical and or Weather Stations. Here I suppose the first the Slimfit 3DPedometer is medicalish. The second is pure entertainment as it is a Wireless Speaker but you could exercise whilst listening to it.

These items seem to develop as the first one I saw was a very basic offering, then a rather nice solar one that even works through the winter with no external power, here an offering that gives barometric readings as well as a UV option.

Like most men I spend a lot of time in trainers for one reason only, they are comfortable, these however are rather different. Like most there are occasions that a notebook needs to travel with me and this bag from STM is also a little different.

With a ‘personal trainer’ costing a fortune and a ‘gym membership’ not a lot less those of us wanting to shed a little weight and trim up a bit have only one method available until now - will power – this little gadget may help.

While it is a part of out body that is used on a regular basis, it sometimes does not get the attention it deserves. Just how clean are your teeth?

To me this is my discovery of the year. One of the items I saw during the ‘Xmas In July’ round of events and if anyone is interested its top of my wish list for Christmas this year. It gave me lots of good workouts during its testing.

Two more items from Brando in Hong Kong. Who have a huge range of fans available. The first is described as a Desktop Fan and the second as a Bladeless Fan something I have only seen previously from Dyson in a high priced unit.

Sitting in front of a computer is not the best way to get and keep fit. Maybe modern technology can provide a way to improve this situation.

Mio have produced a GPS unit for cyclists rather than motorists, so now we non motorists have a unit that can more normally cope with day to day than trying to adapt a unit designed primarily for the car and lorry driver.

Without the subtitle Real Science, Great Nutrition, and Good Health to Bruce W Perry’s book Fitness for Geeks I would not have even bothered to look at this most interesting book. It is not just for the fitness fanatic, it is also worth reading by anyone -- even a couch potato -- who is interested in getting or keeping healthy.

Strangely enough I saw this at a launch last year, at the same event the large Kitchen Machine was shown and as that became available first it was reviewed first. Here this little device is for anyone who chops and slices.

Anyone who tends to want fresh juice really should have a juicer as they tend to get far more from items than the manual alternative. This unit claims to get 10% more juice out than other such products; I have tested this over Christmas.

My first thought was good breathe but then everyone would think about the mouth and teeth and keeping them clean. These two products help you to breathe better first one for Asthma and second one to benefit others.

If you own an iPod Touch, iPhone or iPad then this app together with the headband and software can tell you how well you are sleeping. I am perhaps not the best to review this as my sleep patterns are to say the least erratic.

It’s been a while since I have reviewed anything from Philips; I think the last thing was their Sonicare Electric Toothbrush. Here I am looking at their latest battery operated shaver although it is far more than a simple shaver.